Big names gang up on Calif. prisons

JAY LENO, Gloria Steinem, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Bonnie Raitt, Peter Coyote and Noam Chomsky have signed a letter condemning the isolation of California prison inmates to control gang violence - a practice that sparked a hunger strike by hundreds of inmates.

The letter was sent Monday to Gov. Jerry Brown and it calls isolation units "extensions of the same inhumanity practiced at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay," the Los Angeles Times reported.

Meanwhile, prisoners continued a three-week-old hunger strike. Officials on Monday said that 385 inmates have refused to eat since July 8, while 176 more are on shorter protests. More than 50 prisoners have needed medical care.

This is the third hunger strike launched since 2011 to protest living conditions in the prison's security-housing units, where 4,500 gang members, gang associates and serious offenders are held in extreme isolation, many of them for indeterminate terms of more than 10 years.

Isolation units "serve a vital role in state prisons, keeping staff and other inmates safe from the same violent gangs leading the hunger strike and terrorizing communities across California," state corrections spokeswoman Deborah Hoffman said.

Oprah Winfrey is holding a fundraiser for Democratic Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker's bid for the U.S. Senate.

Tickets for tomorrow's event in Jersey City range from $1,000 to $2,600. Booker's campaign says that about 200 people are expected to attend.

Winfrey dubbed Booker a "rock-star mayor" on her show, and the two are friends.

Polls show Booker the front-runner in the race to replace the late Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg. The primary election is scheduled for Aug. 13.

Sprout TV is looking for someone to help host "The Sunny Side Up Show," its three-hour morning show aimed at youngsters 2 to 5. Aspiring TV hosts are asked to submit a 60-second audition video and send it to Sprout's website, and the network will post some of the best on its YouTube channel.

Three finalists will be chosen to audition with Chica the chicken, in front of show producers in September right here in Philadelphia.

One requirement: Prospective hosts will have to sing Sprout's "Happy Birthday Song" as part of their audition.

The show, which mixes skits along with prerecorded portions, has four hosts: Carly Ciarrocchi, Dennisha Pratt, Kelly Vrooman and Sean Roach. The new host will replace Vrooman.

* On the flip side of Sprout, Sex.com has launched a search for its new face.

That's right: face.

This is a new position for a woman to serve as the brand's ambassador and spokeswoman, host her own exclusive Sex.com Web series, contribute to the Sex.com blog, interact with fans on social media, and interact with adult and mainstream celebrities at events. The person selected will be given a $5,000 signing bonus on top of an annual salary.

No nudity will be required of the candidates during the application process or in the job.

To apply, provide a 250-word sample and a 2-minute video to newface@sex.com or sex.com/career/newfaceofsexdotcom.

* The hit Broadway musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" is looking for a new webslinger, and producers are holding open casting calls for anyone who can sing - and destroy the Green Goblin.

Reeve Carney, who has been playing Spidey since the show began previews in late 2010, will leave Sept. 15, and two casting calls will be held next month to find his replacement, as well as a future actress to play Mary Jane.

The casting calls will be in New York on Aug. 19, at Stage 48 & Sky-Lounge, and in LA on Aug. 12, at the Hollywood United Methodist Church. Those auditioning are asked to sing a rock song a capella that shows off their range.

* U.S. border agents found marijuana on a bus traveling with singer Justin Bieber's tour as it crossed into Detroit from Windsor, Canada.

The Detroit Free Press reported that U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Ken Hammond confirms that the bus was stopped Sunday by a nosy police dog as it attempted to enter the U.S. on the Ambassador Bridge.

Bieber was not on the bus.

Hammond said that drug paraphernalia and a small amount of marijuana were found. He said that the bus driver was cited and that the bus and its passengers were allowed to go.

* Henry Klingeman, an attorney for "Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Teresa Giudice, says he believes that the federal government is prosecuting her because she's a celebrity.

Klingeman says that federal prosecutors frequently target high-profile people to draw attention to their efforts.

Or because they have evidence they may be guilty.

* Art Bell, radio's master of the paranormal and outward edges of science, will return to the microphone on Sept. 16 with a new nighttime show on Sirius XM Radio.

Bell was one of radio's top syndicated voices in the 1990s before walking away from his nightly show in 2002 because of family issues. He worked occasionally after that but hasn't been on the air since Halloween 2010.

"I missed it terribly," said Bell, 68, whose weeknight show will air live from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sirius is building a studio at Bell's rural Nevada home where he will work.

Bell will talk about things like UFOs, ghosts, near-death experiences and weird aspects of science. The Associated Press reports that Bell will also do interviews and take calls from viewers.

Uh, it's radio. If there are viewers that will be freaky.

- Daily News wire services contributed to this report.